My wife, singer Alice Lynn, and I have occasionally performed a cabaret act together over the years, and I've written several original songs and many new arrangements especially for our act. Here are six original songs recorded live at Don't Tell Mama in New York City in 2001, complete with crowd noises and occasional drinking sounds-- it gives it a kind of "you are there" quality! I'm at the piano (and singing on one track), and I'm accompanied by Jared Egan on bass and Aaron Russell on drums. Grab yourself an alcoholic beverage and enjoy!

This was the opening number and title song from the act, inviting listeners into the world of cabaret, where every song is its own story.

Cabaret Phobia

In the mid-90's there was an explosion of cabaret acts, very often at Don't Tell Mama's. You never knew what you were going to get! This is a waggish look at the cynicism that oftentimes accompanied attending unknown cabaret acts. Some of the humor is a bit "inside": MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs-- I never understood why it wasn't "MACC"...) did make a mailing list available to anyone who wanted to inundate you with flyers advertising their appearances. (This was before everyone had internet and could do it via e-mail.) Jamie deRoy is a long-standing mainstay of New York cabaret-- I chose her mostly because her name scans properly and is rhyme-able. (I also had a version that used Nancy LaMott, but her untimely death made it unseemly.) At the time, Don't Tell Mama did in fact only take cash, but that's history. I remember feeling a little like we were biting the hand that fed us performing this song, but hopefully the ending redeemed us!

My Last...

I remember Alice once said to me, "You're wearing out my last nerve," and suddenly the concept for this song popped into my head. I don't want to give away the joke in the title. Obviously it's an absurd notion, but I find the idea amusing that anyone would know the precise time that this was about to happen. I hope it doesn't offend anyone-- it's certainly meant to be tongue-in-cheek, and I had fun with the rhymes. Any melodic similarity to "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" is purely coincidental!

Up Yours

This is another instance where knowing the title ahead of time sort of ruins things-- in cabaret, there are no programs and you often don't announce the name of the song you're about to sing. I liked the idea of writing a nasty song-- it was unexpectedly against Alice's persona. The play on words gives it a fun, comic veneer. Don't miss the more subtle play on words leading into the bridge!

No Words

I figured I needed to write at least one beautiful, heartfelt love song for Alice to sing. She often complained about how wordy my songs were, so I made it my mission to write the lyrics as sparely as possible. In addition, I devised an unusual rhyme scheme where I lay out three short phrases and then rhyme them in reverse order in the following three phrases. I hoped that would give the song a more poetic vibe. Even here, I couldn't resist a play on words: the homonym "no/know".

On the Road to Love

Here's where I get to join Alice in a duet with as many driving double-entendres as I could fit in one song.